Titanc life before and after sinking
by susan cousineau
Summary: This is the life story of Jack and Rose how Jack ended up on the great ship and what could have happened if he had lived.


It had been a wonderful voyage, the maiden ship called Titanic was the most luxurious liner in the White Star Line fleet. Jack looked down at the ship and remembered his life before he had won the tickets back to his home the United States.

Jack was the only son of John and Amanda Dawson. He had grown up a normal healthy life in Chipiwa Falls. He and his dad had been very close and had done many manly things together. They had hunted and fished and had spent many happy hours together. His father was young and very agile, a good looking man with sandy blonde hair and big dimples.

His mother was one of the best cooks and housekeepers in town and his home was always filled with love. He had a few girl friends, but he had not met anyone that had caught his attention when three days before his sixteenth birthday his life was changed forever.

Jack had taken a job at a sawmill in town when he had heard the fire whistle. It was the job of every able bodied man to follow the fire trucks, as there were not that many firefighters in the small town, and this said it was a house fire. As he jumped into the truck of his friend to follow the truck he saw that they were headed toward his home. His home, his parents, as he turned the corner he saw that the whole house was ablaze.

Jack jumped from the truck as it was still running and ran around the house screaming at the top of his lungs for his mother or father but got no answer. Across the driveway was the garage and he called to his parents desperately. As the firefighters fought the blaze Jack knew that his parents were inside. It was horrible gut wrenching feeling, but he knew that he was now an orphan.

When they were able to go into the house, the home that Jack had known all his life, they had found his parents bodies. They were huddled together in the bedroom unable to escape the smoke and

The next few days had been a blur, with the funeral and the arrangements that had to be made. He had sold the farm to a friend of his dad's for 1000 dollars and all bills paid and headed out to see the world. The last thing that Jack wanted to be was a burden to another person after all he was now sixteen.

He had a picture of his family that he would always carry and a watch that his father had always carried. Somehow the watch had survived the fire and Jack had made his mind up that he would carry this with him always and that the watch would go to his first born son.

Just three miles from his home was the railroad station and it was there that he got his first job as an adult. He was given a job as an orderly, he would clean and take care of passenger needs for the next two thousand miles. It was a hard job and he worked fourteen hour days, but when he arrived in New York he again was a free man.

New York was a large and bustling city. It was there that Jack had spent the next three months. He worked the harbor it was hard work, but he got to see all the ships as they came in and he had found the ships very exciting. 'Some day I will sail on one of those great ships perhaps even partake of a first class meal' he thought to himself.

The summer had finally come and Jack was invited to a place in Maine, where he could work the lobster boats and enjoy the fresh air. Maine was a wonderful place to visit and he had many good memories of the small towns and the fresh salt air. It was a long way from his hometown and sometimes he found himself lonely.

With the end of summer, Jack found himself back in New York. It was here that he found a job on a freighter. He would be hired to swab the decks and take care of passengers. For the five day trip to England, he would be given food and a place to stay and thirty dollars. Life was an adventure and he was not going to be tied down by anyone if he could help it.

England was a wonderful old city, and here he could do more of his sketches. He got ten cents a sketch and spent many hours in the city watching people. He spent many nights on the streets of London sometimes sleeping under a bridge.

The next place that Jack arrived in was Paris. It was there that he found many women, many of whom would pose nude, who were more than willing to pose for his sketches. He would spend days at bars and cafes and was well known for his sketchings now.

One day while sitting in a cafe he met who would come to be his best friend Fabrizio. They were both just eighteen years old and orphans. Fabrizio was out to have a fun time as was Jack and since both of them were not interested in worrying about tomorrow they became best friends right away. He spoke with a strong itallian accent but his english was good.

Jack and Farbrizio had heard of the great ship Titanic and had both expressed an interest in taking the ship back to the United States. Unfortunately, the ship was not hiring anyone new and even a third class ticket was too expensive for them. That is when they arrived at the bar to play a hand of poker. Jack couldn't believe it he had even bet his most prized possession, his father's watch, but something told him that this was his lucky day.

When they had won the third class tickets back to New York on the finest ship in the world, they both knew that they were the luckiest people in the world. Just think last night they had slept under a bridge and tonight they would be spending the night on the greatest ship in the world. "Life is good." Jack told Fabrizio.

He had met a young lady named Rose as she was contemplating suicide from the Titanic, she was a first class passenger and obviously spoiled, but something about her just caught his eye from the moment he had seen her. Her fiancee had declared him her savior and invited him to eat dinner that evening in the first class dining room. The dinner had been delicious and as always he had made a good impression on even the snobby members of the first class.

That night he and Rose had danced and fallen in love. They had gone to the third class where neither one of them knew the dance steps, but they had a great time. She had stood on her tip toes in a ballet stance and Jack had been impressed.

The next day they had spent the day walking the deck and enjoying the voyage. Neither one of them knew that this would be the last happy time on the ship. They had just made love and come back up on deck when the iceberg had hit the ship. They had both seen it and had known right away that the ship was in grave danger.  
Rose's finance had managed to get Rose's mother onto a lifeboat but Rose had refused to board. She had run off to find Jack who had been arrested a short while before.  
'How silly that I even considered the thought that Jack had stolen the old necklace that Cal had given me. It was a piece of junk that weighed way too much on my neck.' Rose thought to herself.

Well Rose had saved his life that night, she had managed to break the handcuffs off of his wrists with an axe and they had made it back onto the top deck. Jack had managed to once more get her into a lifeboat, but she had gotten back off once again. He couldn't believe how stubborn she was and it had made him love her even more.

When the ship went down he had told Rose to keep hold of his hand but the two of them had been seperated anyways. As he looked around the water he had found the two doors that had once been the doors to the dining room. He heard Rose cry out and he came to her rescue. Rose was able to get onto the doors but Jack had found himself too heavy and when he had tried to climb onto the door she had tipped so he stayed in the water.

It was then He heard the cries of a child near, very near, him. He looked over and there was the little girl that he had danced with the night before struggling in the water. She had a life jacket on but Jack knew that in the cold water of the north atlantic she would not survive long. He picked her up and placed her on the doors with Rose. Because of her size the doors were able to hold Cora. At this time Jack and Rose began the long wait for one of the lifeboats to return.  
Just as Jack had he had lost all hope of survival he had seen the lantern from one of the lifeboats and they were calling out for survivors. He just couldn t call out he tried but his voice was no longer there, he asked Rose and Cora but they too were too weak. It was then that he saw the officer in the water with the whistle still in his mouth. Rose must have seen it at the same time because before Jack could stop her she had gotten into the water and was swimming toward the man. She blew the whistle and kept blowing until the boat had rescued all three of them.

Once on board the lifeboat Jack could finally put a blanket around his two girls, for now that he had saved Cora he knew that she was his responsibility. She was only six years old and had lost her entire family with the sinking of the ship. Rose and Jack searched the rescue ship for the entire trip back to New York with no success Cora was the only person in her family to survive. She told them that they had no family in the United States, that her father had planned on finding a job when they arrived.

As they arrived at the dock, Jack took a look around. He had survived there before but never with the responsibility of a child and a lady. As survivors of the sinking Jack and Rose were each given a total of seventy five dollars and Cora received twelve dollars. It was with that money that Jack made the decision to take them back to the place he had been the happiest Maine.  
When they arrived in Maine Jack was given his old job back and went to work on a lobster boat. They found a small cottage on the shore, with a lovely private beach, and there they would make their home for the next three years.

Rose and Jack were married on May 1, 1912 in a small ceremony and Cora was officially adopted the next day. Life was warm and wonderful in their home, and there were many happy hours spent as a family. On June 23, 1913 Rose gave birth to a son who they named Jack Jr.

Three years was a long time for Jack and Rose to spend at one location, and as always they were in need of a new home. It was then that they headed to Atlantic City, Rose and Cora rode every ride at the amusement park, and both ladies learned to ride horseback with their legs on either side of the horse.

In 1918 the great war came upon the United States and Jack enlisted. He was still but twenty six years old and in good health. Rose was pregnant at the time and very nervious about her husband going back overseas, but she knew that it was his duty.

On September 23, 1918 Rose gave birth to a little girl. She was the spitting image of her mother and very healthy. They were now a family of five and Rose felt as though her life was complete. Jack and Rose named her Dawn.

Finally the war to end all wars was over and Jack came home. They had gone to a huge party for the returning veterans in Atlantic City, when too late Rose spotted her mother. She was selling flowers to the people when she spotted her daughter.

"Rose Rose, I have thought you were dead all these years. My darling, why didn't you try to contact me? I have cried every night for six years." her mom told her.

"Mother, I didn 't want to marry Cal. He was abusive and wanted to ruin my life, and you would not look any further than his money. I am sorry but I made the decision to stay with Jack and that I have done for the last six years. These are our children Cora Jack junior and Dawn, and of course you have met Jack." Rose told her.

"It is good to meet you once again Mr. Dawson. It looks as though your children are happy and well cared for. It is hard to believe that I have three grandchildren." she told them.

"Oh Harold, I would like to introduce you to some people. This is my daughter her husband and their three children." Rose's mother called out to a man. The man seemed to be a man of means but was friendly and gave them a genuine smile.

"Ruth told me that she had a daughter, but she had always given me the impression that her daughter had died with the sinking of the Titanic. I am glad to meet you and I hope that we will see each other often. I never had any children of my own, and I have a large home with plenty of space for grandchildren." Harold told them with a smile.

It turned out that Harold owned the amuzement park in town and that her mother and him lived less than three miles from the Dawson home. This was a dream come true for Cora and Rose knew that it would be a dream come true for her other children once they got a little older. It was now time for the family to get together.

Both Jack and Rose welcomed Ruth and her husband back into their lives. At first they did so with great caution, however, Ruth had changed. The sinking of the Titanic had hit Ruth hard and without Rose she had to learn to fend for herself. She and her husband were going to be good grandparents to their three children.

Life was good for the next five years with all the children growing up and Cora now having reached adulthood. She was headed off to college in the fall. Unfortunately this was the year that her stepfather died. He had been sick with the flu and had developed pneumonia, a death sentence to many during this time.

With much trepidation Rose and Jack moved into Ruth's large house with their children. Because once again her mother found herself in a financially secure world, she had wanted to send her grandchildren to private schools. That was not allowed both Rose and Jack wanted their children to have a much more normal childhood, and Jack wanted to hunt and fish with his son.

When the crash of 29 happened Ruth once again found herself in a financial situation and to her horror Rose read that Cal put a pistol in his mouth. But Jack he was a survivor and the family survived and thrived even during the depression.

There had been much talk about the war in Europe and when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor Rose knew that her son would be joining the service. He did the next day and went on to join the army air corps. Jack Junior felt that it was his patriotic duty to protect the United States and had smiled and waved as he left for Europe that cold and wintry day. Jack and Rose spent the war years helping out with first aid packages and volunteering for the red cross.

Unfortunately Ruth's health had started to decline and on April 15 1942 exactly thirty years after the Titanic sunk she passed on.

Dawn married a wonderful man named Norman Brown that year. He was a kind athletic man who was getting ready to join the service and he wanted to marry her before he left. The marriage ceremony was small, as Rose and Jack had lost all of their family but the five of them by this time.

Cora had become an attorney and worked out of her office in Bangor. She came down to Atlantic City every six months and was also happily married. She had married a man named Steve Brown who owned his own hardware store . They lived happily in a large home next to the ocean and had three children of their own.

Rose was outside hanging laundry when the car pulled up. She knew what that car meant. It was a car with two men in uniform and she could already feel the lump in her throat swell. She knew that her son had died even before the words had been said.

The Dawson's would have seven grandchildren, and they would grow and know both of their grandparents. Life was always an adventure and Jack and Rose never spent another night apart once he had come back from the first world war.

They had run the amuzement park themselves and had made many improvements over the years. But Atlantic City was now a metropolis and it was time for them to move on. So, in 1958 Jack and Rose moved back to their first love Maine.

Even though they were both now in their seventies they enjoyed the weather and took many walks together on the beach. The granchildren came to see them often. On May 19, 1992 at the age of 99 Jack Dawson passed away in his sleep.

Because at this time Rose was 97 she went to live with her grandaughter. It was while she was at her home she had seen the news article about the Titanic. She flew to the ship that was exploring the Titanic told her story and passed away. There she met her husband once again at the ship s clock.


End file.
